National Security

WSJ: Somali PM Would Welcome U.S. Strike on al-Qaida in His Country

Somalia would welcome an attack on its soil by U.S. special forces to target al-Qaida militants, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

Though he said they would prefer training so that Somalis can carry out a raid themselves, Mohamed said that “in the absence of that, if there is a target or a threat to dismantle, I would welcome it."

The United States faced some criticism from Pakistan for conducting the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, which was conducted on Pakistani soil.

The U.S. has carried out strikes in Somalia in the past. In 2008, a U.S. airstrike killed a man believed to be al-Qaida's top commander in the country.

Though Mohamed said that bin Laden’s death could weaken Somalia’s al-Qaida splinter group, al-Shabaab, he told the Journal that "the movement is far from over."

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The group has been vowing to carry out more foreign strikes, including renewed pressure following bin Laden’s death.

Mohamed said that Somalia needs "the same attention as Afghanistan and Iraq" from the West, adding that such pressure could hold them back from preparing foreign strikes.